With Our Love Comes Patience
by luclipse
Summary: (NALU) This story takes us through the progression of Natsu's and Lucy's relationship through a series of events, starting with a failed Valentine's Day. Rated T for suggested sexual content and slight swearing, though there is the possibility of a rating change in future chapters.


**Ah, what to do when you should fulfilling responsibilities and haven't written a fanfiction in about four years? Well, write a NaLu fanfiction of course! And of all things about Valentine's day, even though it's way past February!**

**Let's just see how this goes then, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, or Mashima's beautiful and creative brain.**

* * *

Natsu pushed the Guild door open in a less-than-enthusiastic manner, Happy following right behind him. Seeing that not many people had gathered in the main hall yet, Natsu turned to his blue friend.

"What do you want to do first, Happy?"

The Exceed answered in a heartbeat. "Lets go to the bar and get some fish! Maybe we can take some of Mira's chocolate too!"

Natsu felt an uncomfortable sensation at the thought of food, but he couldn't resist the temptation of Mirajane's heavenly Valentine's Day chocolate. "Yeah, we've got to do better than last time." He said.

They shuddered at the recollection. The last Valentine's Day that came around, the two woke up early enough to sneak into the Guild with the objective of tasting Mira's chocolate before anyone else. Little did they know about the traps set up against eager thieves and the beating they would receive by the Takover mage herself when they were caught.

"Look, the chocolates are at the bar!" Happy whispered excitedly. Surely enough, there was a silver platter piled high with an assortment of white, milk and dark chocolates, and Mirajane was nowhere to be seen.

With a mischievous glint in their eyes they closed in on their target. It almost seemed _too_ easy. Ducking right underneath the platter, they each reached a hand up to take a handful of edible gold, when suddenly something caught their wrists in an iron grip.

"Ack!" They both yelled in unison.

"Boys, what are you doing?" A sickeningly sweet voice asked.

Now, Natsu Dragneel can count how many times he's been scared on his fingers. There's hardly anything that can really get a jump on the guy. This time though, the Fire Dragon Slayer was, ironically, frozen in pure terror. Now they were in for it! Say goodbye to your lives boys, you won't be needing them any longer.

"M-m-m-m-mirajane!" They stuttered.

"Were you two trying to take chocolate out of turn again like last time? Do we need repeat the punishment then?" Although she was smiling like a perfect saint, the normally innocent looking woman had a dark aura billowing around her.

"N-n-no Mira, we didn't mean it, honest!" Said Natsu.

"We promise we won't take anything!" Whined Happy, tears brimming in his eyes as he spoke.

"Good! I'll let you two off easy this time because it's Valentine's Day, but I hope you've finally learned your lessons." She chastised in a light tone. Her dark aura slowly began to dissipate.

"Yes, Mira." They mumbled and lifted themselves off the ground.

"Now, why don't you boys order something?" Mira could hear the grumbling from Happy's tummy. "It seems like the both of you are hungry."

"I'll have a fish." Happy said, as expected.

"Of course." Mira closed her eyes and smiled at the little Exceed before turning her gaze to Natsu. "And for you?"

"Nah, I think I'll pass."

Wait. Did she just hear that correctly? "Are you sure, Natsu?" Mira asked, her eyes wide in wonder. "You always have a big breakfast around this time of day."

Natsu propped his elbows on the counter, put his head in his hands and groaned. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Alright, now Mirajane _knew_ something was up!

"Natsu says he hasn't been feeling too good since this morning." Happy explained.

Aha, so _that's_ what it was. After closer inspection of the fire mage, Mira confirmed that he did look a bit green around the gills.

"It must have been the eggs we cooked up yesterday, Happy." Natsu moaned. The other day he and Happy returned late and desperately hungry from a quick solo mission. Since all the eateries, including the Guild's, had closed up by the time they reach Magnolia, they had to find something in their own house to eat. After not using their kitchen for so long, it probably would have been a good idea in retrospect to check whether their food had expired or not.

Mira pityingly stared at the pink-headed boy – or man, she should say, he wasn't a child anymore – and asked, "Why didn't you just stay home today?"

Natsu looked at her incredulously. Who _doesn't_ come to the Guild on Valentine's Day?

Mira read Natsu's expression. Soothingly she continued, "I know today is Valentine's Day, but maybe it would be better if you just stayed in bed today and rested."

Sighing, Natsu frowned and buried his face deeper into his hands. He couldn't just go home. Fairy Tail collecting for Valentine's Day was a tradition, a ritual to live by, an unbreakable rule. It was just something they all did without question for as long as he could remember.

"What's the matter flame-head, Valentine's blues caught a hold of you?"

Natsu turned towards the source of the voice, though he already knew whom it belonged to. "What do _you_ want, ice-princess?"

Gray walked up to the bar and sat on the stool next to the queasy fire mage. "You look pretty," Gray smirked, indicating at Natsu's increasingly green face. "It's nice to see you finally dressed up for once. Who knows? Maybe this is the year you'll get laid."

Natsu huffed, "Says the virgin."

Gray bristled at the comment. "Look who's talking?"

"Boys-" Mirajane tried to interrupt.

"Yeah, well at least I won't have a stalker this year 'round!"

Oh. That did it. Natsu knew he had breached a sensitive topic but he felt too nauseous to care.

"Low blow, slanty-eyes, low blow." Gray growled menacingly. "At least I have an admirer!"

"Who says I don't have an admirer?"

"Who the hell would like _you_, you idiot? Even if you _did_ get one, you're so dense cupid would have to take a shit on your head for you to see it!"

"That's it! You wanna go, droopy-eyes?"

"You're on flame-brain!"

Gray had already stripped off his shirt and Natsu summoned his fire magic when an ungodly sound was heard. It came from Natsu's stomach.

The poor mage doubled over in pain as he felt the sudden urge to vomit. Yeah, checking the expiration date would definitely have been a good idea.

"Mira, I think I'll take Natsu home." Happy said, concern evident in his voice.

"That's a good idea, Happy." Mira agreed.

"No. I'm… _Fine_." Natsu hissed through grit teeth.

"Natsu."

"_What?_" He snapped. Looking up, the Dragon Slayer for once in his life regretted his short temper.

Mirajane's devilish aura was back, and something gave Natsu the feeling she wasn't in a forgiving mood anymore. Even Gray took the time to pick up his shirt and pretend he wasn't just about to punch the pink-haired idiot's lights out. "I really think it would be a good idea for you to go home, Natsu-_kun_." Said Mirajane, innocently as an angel.

"A-aye." Muttered Natsu.

"Come on Natsu, lets go." Happy summoned his flying magic and helped support Natsu as he half crawled to the entrance of the building like a hungover alcoholic.

"Such a shame he couldn't stay, wouldn't you agree, Gray?" Mira turned to the ice mage. He wouldn't escape her so easily either.

"Y-yeah. A shame, that." Gray looked away as he said it.

Mirajane sighed inwardly. She was so hoping to see whether something would happen between Natsu and Lucy this year. She had even prepared a special Valentine's Day event for the Guild that might have sparked something in them. Mira was _sure_ they felt something for each other, they just needed that extra push to see it.

Well, maybe she wasn't _entirely_ sure. Gray was right when he said Natsu was dense as a concrete slab, to put it nicely, and she didn't know whether Lucy had it in her to initiate a relationship like that. It could all just be wishful thinking, but the white-haired mage preferred to image something was indeed there, and that maybe one day she would hear the pitter-patter of a pink-haired toddler with chocolate-brown eyes exploring the Guild in wonder.

* * *

Light filtered in through a crack in the curtains, clear and bright. The sounds of birds returning to Fiore, after escaping winter's worst in the south, filled the air and echoed through the room in a reminiscent way. For once, the house was quiet and empty, except for a certain blonde mage that stirred in her sleep. Twisting and turning under the covers until the brightness became agonizing and the chirping turned to shrills in her ears, Lucy Heartfilia realized that her pitiful few hours of sleep were over, and a new day had begun.

In truth, the new day had technically started when she exhaustedly climbed into bed at three in the morning, but those thoughts wouldn't help her now. After all, it was Valentine's Day, and like hell she was going to waste it after slaving away in preparation! She left the warmth of her blanket to hop in the shower, where she made the extra effort to lather until she was sure she'd smell like fresh strawberries all day, then dried and fixed her hair so it fell freely down her back. She would have called Cancer to do it, but today was one of his rare days off. Next she tried covering the dark circles under her eyes with a bit of make-up, but soon found her efforts were completely futile. Now that Lucy looked closer, she could see the tired lines that marked her face and the dried drool she missed while scrubbing herself in the shower.

"I guess that's why it's called 'beauty sleep', huh?" She commented sheepishly to no one in particular.

Lucy moved to her modest wardrobe and looked inside. _How about something a bit different today?_ She thought, attempting to nip her cranky mood in the bud. After some consideration, she put on a soft, white dress shirt with lace details and paired it with a pleated, wine red skirt. As she went over to let in more light through her window, so she could see her reflection properly, she stuck her hand outside to feel the temperature. _Ah, with all the nice sunlight I forgot its still winter! I don't plan on repeating what happened at Mt. Hakobe ever again!_ Sighing audibly, she put on tights and a pair of white knee-high socks with frills at the top, a bit like details on her shirt.

"Yosh, let's start Valentine's Day off with a smile!" Lucy stated while she struck a victory pose at the mirror. Making her way over to the kitchen though, she remembered why she went to bed so late last night, and in such a crappy mood.

The place was a _mess_! The smell of burnt chocolate still lingered in the air, blackish brown goop was dried in places she didn't even know were physically possible to reach and, worst of all, multitudes of chocolate moulds were dumped in the sink in a pile so large, Lucy would rather burn them at this point than clean them all! (Oh, all the poor, poor Jewels she spent to buy them!)

Still not quite awake from her lack of sleep, the blonde couldn't remember for the life of her what had happened the night before. And then it all came flooding back.

She came home the other day with the intent of making her closest male nakama at least five pieces of chocolate each for this one special day. She wanted to make some for Natsu, Gray, Loke, Elfman, Master and Gajeel at the very least, though she bought a bit extra just in case she had time for more. At the height of her optimism, she vowed that she would make all of them herself with nothing but a cookbook she found in a second-hand shop. No use of Mirajane's experience, no calling for Virgo, no asking for a different recipe from Levy-chan if things all went wrong (Lucy was sure the petite woman had a couple on hand considering the number of books she owned).

Why would the Celestial Spirit mage want to do something like that you ask? Well, she never really got the chance to properly thank the Guild for all the kindness they gave her. They not only saved her from dangerous enemies on multiple occasions, but they were her nakama, her family. They believed in who she was, in her strengths and in her bonds with her Guildmates. The mages in Fairy Tail didn't care about her past, they only cared about the present because it meant they could spend time with her, and cared about her future because they waned her as a part of their lives indefinitely. They proved that many times over. Despite Lucy's constant doubts and inner turmoil, she believed in their words wholeheartedly because she knew that Fairy Tail was the only place she belonged.

Hence, Lucy made a vow to do her very best for them on Valentine's Day, one of the rare holidays the boys didn't really feel like going on a mission was worth it. Strange as it was, she noticed this the year she joined Fairy Tail. Hell, even Natsu, the man as thick romantically as the sea was deep, would forgo his usually mission demanding schedule to stay in the Guild all day. Whether it was some sort of ancient Fairy ritual or just habit, Lucy found that she picked up the odd behavior very quickly, considering she made chocolate (_if_ you could call it that) instead of packing for her next rent-paying mission this year.

_How hard could it be to make a couple of batches of chocolate? _She thought the day before. _It'll be a piece of cake!_

After preparing all the ingredients at noon, she toiled and worked herself till she almost fainted and collapsed on the floor, before finally giving up at three in the morning. In the end, she only made enough to satisfy seven people if she gave them one piece of chocolate each, since all the rest either tasted like a bird shat on them or were burnt beyond recognition. However, now as she tiptoed her way around the kitchen, she decided to put three pieces of chocolate in three small boxes she found lying around somewhere instead, and tied each with a bow. The remaining piece she popped in her mouth to check the taste, and was surprised to find it tasted quite okay.

_That makes for Gray, Loki and Master. Gray I'll have to be careful with because… Well, if Juvia sees me give them to him I'm not sure how much longer I'd have left to live…_ Lucy shuddered at the very plausible thought of Juvia crushing her where she stood, or vengefully stabbing her to death as she slept peacefully that evening. Hey, if the Dragon Slayers could barge into her home willy-nilly then what would stop _her_ from coming in with murderous intents? _I'll have to buy some chocolates for the rest of the Celestial Spirits on my way back, as sad as it is, and I'm sure Master will enjoy a surprise._ She packed each box carefully into a cloth bag and set it down on the floor.

There was only one job left to do.

Lucy opened the fridge and fumbled through its contents until she found what she was looking for. Placed carefully on a piece of aluminum foil was an intricate dark chocolate dragon, roughly the size of her palm, with it's mouth open in a nasty snarl and claws raised as if ready to attack. As she picked it up gently she felt immense pride swell within her. The Celestial mage happened to pass by an antique store early the previous morning and spied a dragon mould that she was sure a certain flame-head might like. It was the first piece of chocolate she made yesterday, the only piece she was sure actually tasted like real chocolate.

The details on the chocolate itself were marvelous! Large scales covered most of its body and tail but it had none on its face. Instead, there was a hollowed out bit for an eye encased in serious features, glaring at the beholder as if taunting them to just take a bite, _if they dared_. It was the most beautiful piece of chocolate she had ever seen, and she had made it all by herself.

_That Natsu… _She closed her tired eyes. _All the trouble I go through with him! Just last week he snuck into my bed again and wouldn't leave, and now I've made him this._

_Maybe he's special because…_

Lucy's eyes shot open. A frustrated sigh left her lips. She knew where that train of thought was headed. "He's an important friend!" She muttered to herself. Ever since the horrible ordeal after the Grand Magic Games, more of these thoughts started polluting her mind. "He's my _partner_! Of course that's something special!" At that moment Lucy wished she had summoned Plue, so at least she didn't feel crazy talking to no one in front of her fridge, which was making her cold in any case.

Getting up and slamming the fridge shut she continued, "We _do_ make a great team and all, but it's not like I suddenly want to have his children or anything!" She nodded firmly.

Speaking of which, wasn't her line of thinking going a bit too far? A blush colored her cheeks immediately and she broke out into an uncomfortable sweat. Ah, the nostalgia of the time she thought Natsu wanted to confess to her, but all those Shoujou hallucinations of him were all for naught, as it turned out!

"Must be the Valentine's Day mood and sleep deprivation…" The blonde reasoned with herself.

Even still, Lucy looked once more at the dragon in her open hands. Thankfully she hadn't dropped or crushed it in her nervous fit. Smiling to herself, she found the last small box she owned and laid the little dragon inside it. She made sure to pad the box a little on the bottom so the chocolate wouldn't move around so much.

She placed the box inside the cloth bag with the rest of her failed excuse of a Valentine's Day surprise and sighed dejectedly again. Rubbing her puffy eyes, she made her way to the door without glancing back at the kitchen.

"Looks like I'll just grab some breakfast on the way to the Guild then…"

* * *

As Lucy approached the Fairy Tail base, she could already hear a mass of people inside laughing, shouting and generally cavorting about, meaning the entire Guild was there as she expected. However, what she didn't expect was what she would see inside.

The guild really outdid themselves this year. Streamers and banners in various shades of red, pink and purple lined the walls. The tablecloths set out were pure white with little heart imprints and topped with red candles of different shapes and sizes. The stage was set up, a banner reading _"Happy Valentine's Day Fairy Tail!"_ hanging above the curtains. Overall, the mood in the building had changed overnight from being jovially childish to… Pretty romantic in a quaint sort of way.

Lucy couldn't believe it.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mirajane approaching her with a tray of delicious looking chocolate.

"Good morning, Lucy." The white-haired mage greeted pleasantly. "Care for some chocolate?"

"Good morning, Mira-san, and yes please!" Lucy beamed with delight. She took a white chocolate praline with a hazelnut on top and took a hungry bite. Immediately she could feel the sweetness of the white chocolate reach equilibrium with the bitterness of the hazelnut. It was safe to say that Lucy had reached a state of nirvana. So what can we glean from this, boys and girls? Mira's chocolate was simply the best, end of story.

_How did Mira manage all of this when I could barely make seven simple pieces of chocolate?_ Lucy whined internally.

"Did you do all this yourself, Mira-san?" The Spirit mage asked, indicating at the decorations around the room.

"Well, not all of it." Mira said. "I asked a few of the boys to help me this morning. It was so sweet of them!" She closed her eyes and smiled her usual smile. What Lucy didn't know was what Mira classified as _asking_ was really _threaten them with her stare until they said yes_.

Lucy looked around the room again, this time focusing on the people there. She picked out Master at the bar drinking a pint of beer with Cana, who was drinking a barrel of red wine herself. Over to the right she could see Gray drinking a glass of whisky with a blush on his face while simultaneously trying to ignore the fact Juvia was cozying up to his free arm. Lately Gray was letting Juvia become closer to him, at least physically, after a certain scarf incident Lucy technically wasn't supposed to know about. (Hey, rumors in Fairy Tail spread like wildfire, alright?) On cold days like this, Gray would wear Juvia's scarf, which not only made Juvia happy, but Lucy happy for her nakama as well.

Gajeel and Levy, on the other hand, were sitting across from a very irritated looking Jet and Droy in the center of the room. The petite girl was attacking Gajeel, rather adorably if you consider their difference in strength, to get back a book he was holding above his head. With every futile effort, the Dragon Slayer's smirk grew wider. Lucy didn't know whether to feel sorry for her poor friend for all of Gajeels antics, or happy that he seemed to genuinely want Levy's attention.

There was Elfman and Evergreen bickering, Erza silently indulging in strawberry flavored chocolate, Wendy playing with Carla and Romeo, the rest of the Raijinshuu enjoying Laxus' rare company, Macao and Wakabe discussing women…

Normally, if a single woman were surrounded by all these lovey-dovey sights on Valentine's Day, or at least lovey-dovey for Fairy Tail, they would begin to feel rather lonely. Oh, the agonizing pain of not having a special someone on the universal day of love! What woe! Lucy, on the other hand, was feeling lonely for a different reason entirely. She felt emptiness because everyone in the guild was here, but there was still one person missing from the party. A person and an Exceed actually. There was no mass of wild pink hair making a fool of himself on one of the tables, no certain someone happily munching away at a grilled fish, no random fighting breaking out that had Gray involved in it. Hell, nothing was on fire, Erza was eating in peace and the overall noise in the guild was slightly lower than usual.

Though it might not seems like something to complain about, it set alarm bells in Lucy's mind because, to her, all of these little details begged only one question: _where were Natsu and Happy?_

Lucy asked Mira as much. Mirajane answered with a knowing smile on her face. How did she just know Lucy would ask that? "I haven't seen Natsu since earlier this morning. Last time I saw him he was heading out the door in a hurry."

Technically Mira wasn't lying, she just wasn't telling the whole truth either, reason being she wanted to see how Lucy would respond.

"Oh, I see. Was there anything the matter?"

"Mm, not sure, I couldn't really tell." Alright, now she was stretching the truth a bit.

Lucy couldn't fathom it. Why would Natsu miss out on today of all days without a reason? "That's so strange…" She said in a low voice.

When the blonde mage looked at Mira again, she had a strange smile on her face. It conveyed such mixed emotions it was confusing just looking at her. "Mira-san, is there something the matter?" Lucy asked.

"Ah, it's nothing!" Mirajane waved her free hand in front of her face, which was pretty impressive considering the other arm held a heavy tray of chocolate. To be honest, Mira felt like squealing internally, shoving Lucy out the door and punching something at the same time. This was her chance to give that little extra push! Sure, Natsu might be a vomiting mess when Lucy got there, but the thought of the Celestial Spirit mage nursing her poor, handsome partner back to health, comforting him in the walls of his own home like a perfect housewife, was overriding her imagination.

"Are you sure Mira? You've been acting strange too-"

"Maybe it would be a good idea to check up on Natsu? It _is_ strange how he's not here."

"Oh. Well, first I wanted to-"

Mira didn't wait for Lucy to finish. "Say hello to him for me!" The mage known as the Demon started forcing Lucy to the door.

"But I-"

"Why not buy him something to eat on the way there?" At this point Mira was dragging Lucy to the entrance.

"Mira! I-"

"Some soup might be nice at this time of the day." They were at the door. With a good shove, Lucy had successfully exited the building. "Be sure to visit again later!"

Standing in the dazzling morning sunlight, Lucy was entirely at a loss once again.

Lucy's figure crumpled a little. "Aah, what did I do to deserve this?" She moaned. _I just wanted to do something nice for once and I get shoved out without even a goodbye!_ She thought dejectedly. As if this day could get any worse. With a confounded expression, Lucy went back in the direction she came from. There was absolutely _no_ saying no to Mira, so why bother? "May as well drop the chocolates off at home then. All that hard work gone to waste!"

* * *

It was now around noon as Lucy shuffled exhaustedly by the canal near her home. Plue was only a few short steps behind her. She had stopped by the market, which was conveniently close to Gray's apartment, for some groceries, when she spied Gray and Juvia taking a stroll. Whether the two had the intention of going to Gray's modest abode together or Gray was just looking for a moment's reprieve from the water mage, Lucy didn't know, but she sure as hell wasn't going to interrupt (out of concern for her own safety). That shot down her plans of at least delivering one of her chocolate boxes, even if she did just want to leave it at his door with a note of explanation.

_I'll have to ask Juvia about their little outing later though._ She thought mischievously with a smirk.

As Lucy approached her front door, she sighed. "Aw, what a tiring ordeal!"

"Pun puun!" Said her blue, not-quite-dog-like companion. At least she had the good sense this time to call him out, if only to have someone to complain to on her lonely walk from the Guild.

The blonde's stomach gurgled with an intensity to match Natsu's. Embarrassed, she muttered, "Now that I think about it Plue, I haven't even had breakfast yet. I was kicked out after just having one stinking piece of chocolate." Actually, she shouldn't say that. She was surprised by how long Mira's chocolate had kept her hunger at bay.

"So, first things first, store the chocolates upstairs." She unlocked the entrance of the house, took off her shoes and put on her slippers.

"Puun."

"Then make something to eat." If my kitchen even works anymore. Lucy started trudging her way up the stairs.

"Puun, pun puuun!"

"You're right, I may as well make leftovers for him. He _is_ part of the reason I got kicked out today, I guess. I can never be too sure about anything anymore." She opened the door to her apartment.

"Then to clean and finally visit- _NATSU?_" The Celestial mage shrieked the last word.

And what a sight he was…

"Yo – uurp – Lucy. Hand me the trash can, will you?"

The named fire mage was sprawled out on Lucy's bed shirtless, glistening with sweat and not to mention colored the deepest shade of green Lucy had ever seen on a human face. Happy was standing over him, fanning a cooling breeze with, no, not his wings which would have been much more efficient, but with the rough draft of Lucy's most recent novel stapled together to form a large fan.

"**What the hell are you two doing in my house ****_again_****? And are those ****_my_**** papers you're using?**" Lucy at this point had just about had enough. She was tired beyond belief, hungry enough to devour her own burnt chocolates and sick of running into problems she didn't want to deal with. She was about to throw the nearest object to her, conveniently her trash can, when Happy flew over and held her upraised hands to his body.

"_Please_ don't throw it, Lucy!" He shouted.

Lucy was taken aback by Happy's uncharacteristic request, enough to lower the trash can from over her head and hug the little Exceed with one arm. "Happy..."

Suddenly, Happy raised his head and gave her a creepy look, "If you do it he'll throw up on your floor again."

"_What do you mean _**_again_**_, you stupid cat?_" She shrieked, throwing Happy across the room as she did.

"Hey, Lucy, I'm going to need that trash can right about now-"

"And _you!_ What are _you_ doing _here_? Why aren't you at home or at the Guild's nursery?" Lucy pointed an accusing finger at the Dragon Slayer.

Natsu looked increasingly desperate, "But the trash can-"

"Like hell you're going to ruin it with your sickly-"

"The floor, Lucy, the floor." Happy reminded her.

"_Arg, why today?_" Lucy moaned in defeat. She placed the little object at the edge of her bed, and just in time too. As soon as the thing was in reach, Natsu grabbed it, shot up, and emptied his stomach.

Lucy backed away in disgust. "Why couldn't you just do this at your own house?" She asked (actually, more like demanded) Happy.

"We tried to get there from the Guild this morning but Natsu said he couldn't make it."

Looking at the pink-haired mess, she could imagine. Nothing could stop Natsu like his stomach. Whether he was hungry or sick it was really the only thing besides life-threatening injury and motion sickness that could weaken the guy for longer than a couple of hours.

Now that Lucy had calmed down some, she sighed for the umpteenth time that day. "So you say he's been like this since this morning?"

"Aye..."

After hearing Natsu's retching intensify she asked incredulously, "How does he still have that much to vomit?"

"Well, we thought it would be a good idea to feed him something from your fridge about 5 minutes ago-"

Lucy grabbed Happy by the scruff of his neck, "_How_ in the Spirit King's name did you think it would be a _good idea_ to feed a sick person with _raw food from my fridge?_"

"Oi, Natsu, Lucy's being scary!"

Natsu could neither see nor hear Happy, for he was concentrating on emptying the contents of his stomach.

"You guys will be the end of me, I swear!"

"Did you hear that Natsu-"

"For Pete's sake, _HE CAN'T HEAR YOU-_"

"_Oi!_"

Both Lucy and Happy turned to face the direction of the voice. Natsu was peeking over the brim of the trash can, evidently exhausted, and glaring at the both of them.

"I need something else to throw up in-"

"_BOTH OF YOU GO TO HELL!"_

* * *

Lucy wiped the sweat away from her brow. This had been one tiring day.

Since the initial shock of having a sick Natsu and thoroughly annoying Happy in her home, she had been on her feet for whatever reason to nurse the flame-head back to health. For the most part, she reasoned it was because the sooner he got better the sooner the both of them would leave.

She had made a large pot of soup for Natsu to gradually eat throughout the day, with Happy's help, had cleaned the sticky bits of forgotten vomit on her floor and emptied her trash can countless of times, before finally throwing it away once Natsu urges to be sick had lessened dramatically.

Now, there he was. The man that once again caused her a good ton and a half of trouble was sound asleep under the covers of her bed, with Happy snoozing at his feet. Considering Natsu was sleeping spread eagle style, Lucy decided she'd sleep on the couch rather than wake him. That and she didn't want to be in the way in case Natsu needed to make a beeline for the bathroom.

Finally realizing that her work for the day was done, Lucy retreated into the bathroom to prepare herself for another night of little sleep. Before making up the couch, she checked to make sure her door was locked (oh, who was she kidding anymore anyway, it's not like it kept anyone out). Upon arrival, she glanced at the little cloth bag where she had placed her Valentine's day chocolate.

That was when the events from the day caught up with her. Anger, sadness and hopelessness all bubbled to the surface at once. She had missed another chance to really express her gratitude. It wasn't her fault though, was it? Mirajane was the one that forced her into this mess to begin with, and Natsu was no help either!...

No, in the end she tried her best but it seems like that in itself wasn't good enough. Wasn't that the way things always were though? She would try to help her nakama but in the end they would always be the ones saving her instead.

Maybe she really was that useless after all...

Tears stung her eyes as she carefully removed each box from the bag. She figured she may as well throw them all away since Valentine's Day had come and gone. Lucy then remembered that she didn't even have a trash can anymore, causing her to feel even more hopeless.

However, there was something that kept grabbing at her attention, something instinctive that took over her exhausted mind. It was the box that held the chocolate dragon. _Her_ chocolate dragon. The chocolate she had made first, with the most care and the most thought. It was beckoning her to open the cage it had been confined to.

Lucy slipped the ribbon off the box, then opened the lid. Carefully, gently, she scooped the dragon up into her cupped hand. Dropping the box, as well as the other Valentine's boxes in her arms, she stared at the glorious little thing.

Lucy had to smile.

Of course. Why was she thinking such things? Why was she having such doubts?

She shook her head, her golden tresses swaying to and fro.

No, it wasn't right for her to think that way at all!

Almost unconsciously, her feet dragged her towards her bed.

Fairy Tail was her life, her happiness. So long as she fought by her friends to protect it there was no way she was being useless.

Tiredly, Lucy sank to her knees at the edge of her bed.

So what if she couldn't express her feelings today? She would just do it tomorrow.

She closed both hands around the dragon and placed her arms flat on the bed.

In fact, she would do so every day from now on. Why not? That's how much everyone really meant to her.

Lucy leaned her head on her outstretched arms and sighed, not in irritation, but in contentment.

Master and Erza, Gray and Juvia, Cana and Wendy, Mira and Levy, Lisanna and Elfman, Happy and Loki, and...

"_Natsu_."

And with that, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Natsu woke up with a start. He clutched his stomach, expecting there to be nausea and pain, but there was nothing. Confused, then, as to the reason why he woke up in such alarm, he waited for his keen eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Not sensing any immediate danger, he was about to go back to sleep when a golden head of hair caught his eye.

Lucy had fallen asleep on the edge of her bed, and in a rather odd position at that. She had her arms thrust out in front of her, her hands loosely clutching something, as if she expected him to take whatever it was. She rested the side of her face on her left arm, her face the picture of serenity.

Normally, the Dragon Slayer would turn right around and go back asleep assuming Lucy had just fallen off the bed in some strange way, being the childish person he was. It was her loss if she couldn't control the way she slept.

Though this time it was different.

Natsu felt genuinely guilty. The more he stared the more it looked as if she feel asleep that way, probably because he hogged all of the space on the bed. She was most likely too tired to even set up the couch, considering all the work she's done to take care of him that day. Lucy even looked tired when she entered her apartment that afternoon, he could tell immediately by the bags under her eyes, but she took care of his sick behind anyway.

"Lucy. Hey, Lucy." He whispered.

There was no response.

Bending over a little closer, Natsu said a little louder, "Lucy, can you hear me?"

This time, there was a shifting as Lucy opened her hands to reveal a brown blob resting on her palms, yet still she didn't wake.

Curious, Natsu picked up whatever it was from her hands and tried to make out what it was. From the smell of it, he could just barely tell it was chocolate (Lucy's scent was getting in the way). In the darkness of the early winter morning, he could make out something that looked like a tail... Maybe claws? A mouth and a face. Some scales... Was this supposed to be...

A _dragon_?

It was difficult to tell from the overall shape, since Lucy's hands probably melted the edges and most of the details, but as he looked closer he could see the angry eyes, the snarling mouth and large scales of a little chocolate dragon.

"Who did she make this for?" He wondered aloud.

As if to answer him, Lucy shifted her head to her other arm and started murmuring something. Leaning closer, Natsu heard something along the lines of _Natsu, think you dense idiot - mumble, mumble -_.

Sleep-talking Lucy made a good point. The only people Natsu could think she would make a dragon chocolate for would be himself, Gajeel, Wendy or Laxus. Lucy hardly communicated with Gajeel or Laxus, which left Wendy. Considering yesterday was Valentine's Day though, it would be weird if Lucy just made a chocolate for her, meaning the only person left would be...

_Me. _Thought Natsu.

Staring down at the piece of chocolate, now melted down to about half the size of his palm from his body heat, he didn't know what to feel.

To think that Lucy, his partner and best friend, would make him something like this. He guessed the chocolate was hand made, judging by the smell of it, meaning it wasn't just some store bought good. Lucy had actually put in the time and effort to make him something, and in the shape of one of his most favorite things in the world. A dragon, like his magic, his fiery personality and his father...

Natsu took a tentative bite of the little thing, unsure whether he would just spit it back up right away. Surprisingly, for all the disfiguration it went through, the chocolate tasted alright. The fire mage kicked off the covers, ready to sprint to the bathroom in case his sickness still wasn't completely gone, but after sitting around in the dark for about five minutes nothing seemed to happen. Sighing thankfully, Natsu gobbled up the rest of the chocolate within seconds.

His attention wandered back to the Celestial mage fast asleep on the edge of her own bed. He seriously needed to fix this, otherwise the nagging feeling of guilt would never go away.

So Natsu Dragneel did a very un-Natsu-like thing.

He gently scooped up Lucy into his arms, almost like a knight would his princess, and placed her down into the bed next to him. He covered her up to her nose with the covers and sank down next to her.

Of course he had done the same thing with her many times before. As in, slept in the same bed with her. In fact, it was during these nights that he would sleep most comfortably and most deeply. Although, as mentioned before, tonight was a very special night, because as Natsu had lifted Lucy into his arms, he realized that the poor girl was very, very cold.

This in turn made him feel even worse. He had unintentionally forced his partner to half sleep on the floor, without any way to warm herself on a cold winter's night, while he snoozed away in her bed under the blankets. So what Natsu wanted to do was warm her up, and what he did was simple. He wrapped his arms around Lucy, one arm around her waist and one arm behind her neck, just as he had done only once before in his life.

At first, it didn't seem all that bad. He could gradually feel the heat flowing back into her as heat radiated from his bare chest into her own curvaceous body.

Aha, but you see, that's when it happened.

Lucy started to stir in her sleep, and not in the most innocent of ways. Unconsciously, Lucy was thoroughly enjoying this new warmth that seemed to appear out of nowhere, so she wanted to get closer to it like a moth would try to fly closer to a flame. Naturally, this meant she started to wiggle. It began with her shoulders, then kept moving downwards, and downwards, and downwards... until eventually the wiggling reached her hips.

That, my dear readers, is when Natsu Dragneel, for the first time in his life, felt a bit of stirring of his own. Imagine this:

A boy holding a girl in his arms. The boy is shirtless, while the girl wears quite a thin PJ, and quite a revealing one actually. The girl begins rubbing her voluptuous upper half along the boy's chest. Now how should the young man respond, or rather, how should his _body_ respond. Even a man with a very dense mind can have an aching body, whether he realizes it or not.

Then, as the rubbing reaches lower, and lower, it finally reaches the boy's manhood, a very sensitive place indeed.

"Lucy, hold still or I can't- ack!" Natsu's eyes almost bulged out of his head. "L-l-l-lucy, s-s-_stop_!"

The sensation of Lucy's body being rubbed against his in such a way... Well, he's never quite felt anything like _that_ before. It started as a tickle, the fabric of Lucy's soft PJs rubbing against his naked skin. It made him want to shove her away before he burst out laughing. But then the rubbing intensified, and the rusted wheels in his head stared to turn. His arm around Lucy's waist began to move with her incessant movements, shifting his hand closer and closer to her supple ass. The wheels in his head clicked into place, finally after his 18 years of life, when Lucy's curvaceous hips rocked against... Well, the thing Master told him about all those years ago with the birds and the bees...

He didn't like it.

Don't get him wrong. It wasn't because it didn't feel good. Oh, it was actually starting to get nice and toasty down in some places. For a good while, Natsu himself had realized that he was becoming genuinely more curious in the other gender, at least physically since he otherwise had strong relations with his female nakama. Sure, the occasional accidental peak here and there was embarrassing on both parts. He was only human after all. Though there is one person he found more interesting than the rest, and that would be the woman sleeping in his arms.

It was strange, but normally his natural reaction to a naked woman, especially a nakama, would be to force down a blush and turn away, as there was no reason to stare if it would only cause him a thorough beating. He wasn't perverted enough to take the pain and abuse just for a blurred glance at an exposed body part, unlike some of the other men in the Guild. Well, perhaps not _all_ the time (there was that one incident at the baths that we should not delve into).

With Lucy on the other hand, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something more... _Familiar _about her body. It may just be the fact he'd seen her naked figure so many times he'd lost count, or that Lucy was so good of a friend that a little shared skin contact isn't really anything special. But no, neither of those theories quite fit, and for the life of him the Dragon Slayer couldn't figure out why. Recently he found himself dwelling on this topic for as long as his short attention span would last him, mostly after hanging around the girl in question during the day, but would forget about his dilemma rather quickly and go about his daily business. Whatever this was, all he knew was that he was comfortable with Lucy, both as the weird person she is _and_ with her body, enough to feel her, touch her, even kiss her without a problem if a certain persistent little girl asked for it...

That aside, Natsu in his current situation had the intense feeling (damn him and his feelings) that Lucy should be, how should he put it? Awake, if she was going to be doing something like this?

Natsu knew how these things went. He wasn't _that_ stupid. A boy and a girl run to a cabbage patch - skip the erotic descriptions given by Master that have probably scarred Natsu for this long - and you've got an evening of fun. However, in the story the boy and girl were both running to the cabbage patch together. They were both having fun at the same time. Now it just seemed like Natsu was getting a free harvest while Lucy was being left in the dirt.

It just didn't _feel_ right. Not right now at least.

So Natsu did the only sensible thing he could do.

He removed himself from Lucy, grabbed his shirt, and sprinted for his house as if Erza was giving chase.

He was going to need to run a lot longer though before he could get those swirling curves off his mind.

* * *

**Well... that took _much_ longer than expected. It is now 2:30 am and I have graduation rehearsal tomorrow, but I can find no fucks to give. Anyway, a couple of things to point out.**

**1. I've gotten into fanfiction again after all these years, meaning I will make more chapters of this fic. I have a general outline of what events will happen, but I don't think I'll be interconnecting events all that much. I'm thinking this will be a chronological series of one-shots, but I'll have to see how things work out. I doubt I'll have much time to write but I'll update when I can.**

**2. I would have _loved_ to write a hot sex scene right off the bat, but if there's one thing that Nalu thrives on as a ship, it's patience. Mashima's proven, at least to me, that the development and Natsu's and Lucy's relationship has come in small baby steps. For a character like Natsu it's very hard to just suddenly shove something as foreign to him as romantic love onto him and expect him to just play along. I expect resistance on both Natsu's and Lucy's part (I get the feeling they're both really big tsundere's on the inside), which is why I ask my readers to be patient. I'm not sure if I have it in me to write a decent lemon, but I hope the reward will be sweet in the end. Just have patience.**

**3. Concerning the point above, that's why I had Lucy think about Happy a lot as well as Natsu, because like it or not Happy and Natsu are inseparable, and to consider one you must consider the other, especially if you are friends with both like Lucy. I guess you could say in this chapter we still have more of a friendship-ish relationship with a bit of hinting on either side. They do say slow and steady wins the race in any case.**

**4. I hate Lucy's nickname of Luce. I will not be using it in this fic. - pet peeve**

**So, thanks for reading! I'd love to hear your comments! I myself think the beginning dragged on waaaay too long but I didn't have the heart to shorten all that writing after I haven't written anything legit for about 4 years.**

**_Edit:_ I thought that Natsu's thinking process wasn't really in-depth enough, since why after all these years did things finally click? Well, it's been pointed out to me, and this is a really good point actually, that the reason why Natsu's been acting more serious around Lucy whenever something sexual comes around (kissing, boob touching/peeking, etc.) is because he's started to genuinely take an interest in her body. Before it was more "Ahaha eeew, girl cooties!" but now it seems as if things have become slightly more mature between them. I for one like this idea and I hope I expressed it well enough. Natsu really is a difficult character to write for.**

**~Luclipse**


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